Face Piranhas
Face Piranhas (known in development as Attack of the Face Piranhas) is a film written, directed by and starring the Weenie. It is his debut as as a writer and director and the first time he has the main role in a motion picture. The movie was released on September 22nd, 2013. Synopsis Twins Earl and Greg (the Weenie) discover a Government experiment in which flying Piranha fish, who can become microscopic and hide in the face muscles of a human, were made by Scientists. While attempting to out the Government, Earl's face mysteriously explodes, killing him. For some reason, Face Piranhas are released on Planet Earth: Greg and others must try to stop the bad guys or something. Cast The Weenie as Greg Gilligan/Earl Gilligan Amanda Bandanna as Sierra Lewis Max Crelik as Mr. Hobbs Matt King as Lennon Sinead as Lenka Buzzard Bertha Sniggle as Beth Tate Cian Nolan as Liebowitz (cameo) Production Development for the film began in late 2011, with the Weenie creating a five-page treatment for a movie about killer trouts. He wished to expand the treatment into a full screenplay, as well as direct it as a movie. He began work on the screenplay towards the end of production of The Mommy Show's fourth season. He reportedly showed the treatment to LA!LA! at the season four wrap party. LA!LA! were at first sceptical about buying the rights, as Film Gate was now the sole owner of The Thing franchise, which was one of LA!LA!'s biggest earners and their only successful horror one: their second attempt, The Leaves, notoriously bombed. They agreed to discuss it further once The Mommy Show wrapped its fifth and final season. However, when it was announced production on The Mommy Show has been cancelled, the Weenie approached LA!LA! again. LA!LA! employees discussed it and decided to bid for the movie rights, allotting a production budget of 4 million Roks, which was tiny compared to The Thing movies (20 million, 35 million and 37 million respectively). The Weenie was unhappy with the amount and approached Film Gate, who offered 7.5 million. Though the Weenie was still displeased, he was about to accept the offer until LA!LA! put in another bid of 10.5 million. LA!LA! and Film Gate got into a fierce bidding war over the movie; the final winner was Film Gate, who offered 16 million. Production was due to begin in early 2012, but the project was delayed to August, then again to January. The film was stuck in development hell and Film Gate decided to sell off the rights. LA!LA! again bid, this time with 15.4 million, but accepting this would mean Film Gate made a loss. Instead, the Weenie set up his own studio (Goosified Productions) and bought the rights for 17.75 million (as well as allowing Film Gate a percentage of profit), allowing production to finally begin in May 2013. In early June, the Weenie announced he would be starring, as well as writing and directing. He also said the female lead was cast. In a July interview, Bertha Sniggle revealed she had a supporting role, and that filming was due to begin in late July. Goosified Productions received permission to film in the Taymyr Peninsula, which began on July 27th. In early August, Amanda Bandanna was spotted on set, hinting that her and the Weenie were dating again. She was later confirmed to also be playing the female lead, Sierra. Sinead revealed she would be playing a supporting role, and that Matt King was in talks to play a role. The Weenie confirmed Cian Nolan would have a small cameo. Filming wrapped on September 2nd, with post-production occurring until September 14th. Release The film was released on September 22nd, 2013. As part of the rights agreement between Gooseified and Film Gate, Film Gate received a percentage of any profit the film makes: if the film didn't make its money back, Goosified would've be forced to pay them. Shortly after post-production finished, a rough cut was shown to an audience of critics. The reaction was mixed, with some critics praising the performances and special effects, but some critics felt the script was stiff, the performances bad and that the whole thing was incredibly silly. After the film was released, reaction was once again mixed to negative: some appreciated the film, but couldn't take it seriously, thinking of it as more of a spoof. On the LAI (LA!LA! Appreciation Index), the film currently has a rating of 55/100, considered "Icky" on the scale. Box Office Produced on a budget of 17.75 million, the film grossed 9 million in its opening two days, which was below the expectations of Goosified, who believed the film would take 15 million, and was deemed "a major disappointment". Within another few days, the film managed to get 16.53, below the 17 expectations. After a week of release, the film earned 22.3 million. Once the movie stopped showing, it garnered 26.1 million, making for a 8.35 million profit. However, when taking away the 25% due to Film Gate, Goosified made only about 6.3 million, much below their hopes for the film. Sequel The Weenie revealed he had more plans that could appear in a possible sequel, if the movie did well. Many assumed Film Gate would abandon the film during its disastrous first few days but they released a statement saying that they "know the Weenie is very talented and have high hopes for his excellent film, which we are interested in expanding into a franchise, and are just very excited to see where the movie takes us." However, in early October, Film Gate dropped their stake of the film's after making only 2.2 million from their 25%. The Weenie, however, said they were in talks with LA!LA! for possible funding of a sequel, which he believes can be made for three quarters of what the first film was made for. On October 3rd, however, a LA!LA! spokesperson denied they were in talks and even said they hadn't even considered funding a sequel, calling the film "trainwreck cinema", an act which angered the Weenie. He is currently looking for funding at other studios.